No change in scholarship form: JNU administration

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Countering the accusation of linking fellowship with the mess dues, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday said that the clause which says pending mess dues will be deducted from the fellowship/scholarship amount is not new and that no new change has been made in the fellowship form.

“A message has been spread on social media that a new fellowship/scholarship form has incorporated a change i.e. linking mess dues with fellowship/scholarship and saying that the mess dues will be directly deducted from the fellowship/scholarship.

“Actually, this provision has already been on the fellowship/scholarship form and there is no alteration of this condition…,” the varsity Finance Officer said in a note.

It further added that the students can keep using the existing form for fellowship/scholarship till June 30 and that a new claim form for these will be implemented from July 1 onwards.

The administration’s disclaimer came in wake a message posted on April 7 on social media by JNU Student Union President Geeta Kumari, in which she had alleged the linking of the mess due with the fellowship/scholarship a new addition, and the decision a “latest farmaan (decree)” of the varsity.

Speaking to IANS, JNU Finance Officer Heeraman Tiwari confirmed that all the old forms carried the undertaking for students to sign.

“A wrong message is being spread. This is not a new rule. All the old forms had it. This undertaking has been there forever… May be they (students) didn’t read it till today,” he said, adding a number of students approached him in wake of the social media message and he had sort to clarify the point.